Bluesobit: Jack Rose

Jack Rose, drone guitarist turned bluesman, has died, reports Arthur Mag.

Born in Virginia, Rose was a member of drone act Pelt, working with them across and through their stop-go activity during the 1990s. In 2000, he started to release work under his own name, and taking a totally different direction - a little bit ragtime here, a little bit country there. His career got a boost after an endorsement from Devendra Banhart (a position on the 2004 compilation Golden Apples Of The Sun) and The Wire, who selected his Raag Manifestos as one of 2005's best albums.

His ninth solo album, Jack Rose and The Black Twig Pickers, was released earlier this year. "Jack Rose and The Black Twig Pickers tell it well, from their side of the ocean, without making an effort to be accessible, palatable, academic or lo-fi. It’s a big fuck you to the gentrification (and homogenisation) of traditional American folk music," reckoned the Strangeglue review.

Jack Rose, who was 38, died from a heart attack on Saturday, December 5th.

This is him in action: